September 02, 2009

The Thigh High Boots = Pretty Woman/Hooker comparison needs to STOP.

I'm very active on Twitter. Every evening, I check the web for the latest news and blog updates regarding boots (and gloves) and post the links. Since thigh high boots are the THING for the F/W 2009 season, there's a massive deluge of daily info. Mainstream media and their inane 'Trend Reports', and the countless fashion blogs - all weighing in on their opinions of the 'Thigh Boot Trend'.

It's been a Bootlovers BONANZA! I can barely keep up! In my entire adult life - and I'll be 40 in a few weeks - I have never witnessed such an all encompassing devotion to exotic boots by the fashion world. EVERY magazine is promoting boots in their Fall issues - and it's HOT boots too!

Thankfully, it's not like last year, with the no-heel designs and the hideous 'open-toe' bullshit that 99.9% of us righteously hated. The only criticism I can direct at the 'trend' is the prices. Did you think The Little Shoe Box was expensive? You may want to lean towards the fainting couch. Average prices for the seriously 'must have' boots range from $1400 - $4000 USD. Fashion confirms what us custom-whores already knew - boots are an EXPENSIVE fetish.

(Louis Vuitton Thigh Highs or Mortgage Payment. Your Choice.)

I suspect the 'glove guys' are laughing their asses off - they've always known the score.

But it's not the prices that are getting me down. It's the 'thigh boots = whore' thinly-veiled slant that so many of these fashion writers have.

For once - it's not the boys I want to throttle, it's other WOMEN who are doing this. They are using a silly rom-com called 'Pretty Woman' as a comparison, and a put-down.

(Stare at THIS CHICK, not Julia Roberts.)

Bootlovers.com knows far more about the boots featured in Pretty Woman than most. We featured Julia Roberts' Pretty Woman body-double - Shelley Michelle - just a few issues ago. Julia was far too thin to wear those infamous patent boots on the poster - it's Shelley's body you have been looking at for the past 20 years! It's kind of funny/sad that an actress was considered too thin to be 'sexy' twenty years ago.

Pretty Woman was released in 1990. How many other films released in 1990 can you name off-hand? I'm a SciFi film geek and even I can't think of any w/o checking IMDB. Those boots made a hell of an impression on our cultural psyche. Unfortunately, it only enforced the "thigh boots = hooker" mentality that so many outsiders have. While countless male boot fetishists swoon over that film/poster - it only made acceptance for female boot lovers much harder than it already is.

=(I'd be embarrassed to associate with these $19.99 Buy It Now Ebay specials too.)

That so many 'fashion editors' are mentioning Pretty Woman in their 'trend' write-ups only shows their age. The majority of women who are devouring the latest fashion trends were in grade school in 1990 - they wouldn't give a fuck about an old Julia Roberts film if it wasn't for its continual mention by fashion 'experts'.

It ANGERS me that while a whole new generation of young women are being introduced to exotic boots - the 'whore' stereotype is still being dumped on their heads. It's intimidating - and it's scaring them away from wearing the high-end fashion boots that are filling the fashion shops right now.

(Tell her she looks like a whore - I dare you.)

I have a request. It's not a solution of the problem - but I believe every bit helps.

Your mission - should you accept it. When I post all of these "Fashion Trend' links on Twitter, and if you pick up the 'thigh boots = whore' vibe in any of the editorials, please respond in their Comments. Do NOT let the innuendo slide. If a woman has the nerve to post about how much she loves the new trend but is afraid to wear the boots - encourage her (not: U LUK FKING HOT in BOOTS!!! - Be A Gentleman!). If she posts pics on her blog - give her a compliment. The most important thing: give them props for wearing gorgeous boots. For every comment you make, there's hundreds reading it.

The thigh boots trend won't last - trends never do. Next year we may be back to clunky-heeled boring inanity and we'll have to wait another decade before wild boots are 'hot' again. Let's be the Boot Ambassadors! The women who are just beginning to love boots may be the boot designers ten years from now!

Comments

The Thigh High Boots = Pretty Woman/Hooker comparison needs to STOP.

I'm very active on Twitter. Every evening, I check the web for the latest news and blog updates regarding boots (and gloves) and post the links. Since thigh high boots are the THING for the F/W 2009 season, there's a massive deluge of daily info. Mainstream media and their inane 'Trend Reports', and the countless fashion blogs - all weighing in on their opinions of the 'Thigh Boot Trend'.

It's been a Bootlovers BONANZA! I can barely keep up! In my entire adult life - and I'll be 40 in a few weeks - I have never witnessed such an all encompassing devotion to exotic boots by the fashion world. EVERY magazine is promoting boots in their Fall issues - and it's HOT boots too!

Thankfully, it's not like last year, with the no-heel designs and the hideous 'open-toe' bullshit that 99.9% of us righteously hated. The only criticism I can direct at the 'trend' is the prices. Did you think The Little Shoe Box was expensive? You may want to lean towards the fainting couch. Average prices for the seriously 'must have' boots range from $1400 - $4000 USD. Fashion confirms what us custom-whores already knew - boots are an EXPENSIVE fetish.

(Louis Vuitton Thigh Highs or Mortgage Payment. Your Choice.)

I suspect the 'glove guys' are laughing their asses off - they've always known the score.

But it's not the prices that are getting me down. It's the 'thigh boots = whore' thinly-veiled slant that so many of these fashion writers have.

For once - it's not the boys I want to throttle, it's other WOMEN who are doing this. They are using a silly rom-com called 'Pretty Woman' as a comparison, and a put-down.

(Stare at THIS CHICK, not Julia Roberts.)

Bootlovers.com knows far more about the boots featured in Pretty Woman than most. We featured Julia Roberts' Pretty Woman body-double - Shelley Michelle - just a few issues ago. Julia was far too thin to wear those infamous patent boots on the poster - it's Shelley's body you have been looking at for the past 20 years! It's kind of funny/sad that an actress was considered too thin to be 'sexy' twenty years ago.

Pretty Woman was released in 1990. How many other films released in 1990 can you name off-hand? I'm a SciFi film geek and even I can't think of any w/o checking IMDB. Those boots made a hell of an impression on our cultural psyche. Unfortunately, it only enforced the "thigh boots = hooker" mentality that so many outsiders have. While countless male boot fetishists swoon over that film/poster - it only made acceptance for female boot lovers much harder than it already is.

=(I'd be embarrassed to associate with these $19.99 Buy It Now Ebay specials too.)

That so many 'fashion editors' are mentioning Pretty Woman in their 'trend' write-ups only shows their age. The majority of women who are devouring the latest fashion trends were in grade school in 1990 - they wouldn't give a fuck about an old Julia Roberts film if it wasn't for its continual mention by fashion 'experts'.

It ANGERS me that while a whole new generation of young women are being introduced to exotic boots - the 'whore' stereotype is still being dumped on their heads. It's intimidating - and it's scaring them away from wearing the high-end fashion boots that are filling the fashion shops right now.

(Tell her she looks like a whore - I dare you.)

I have a request. It's not a solution of the problem - but I believe every bit helps.

Your mission - should you accept it. When I post all of these "Fashion Trend' links on Twitter, and if you pick up the 'thigh boots = whore' vibe in any of the editorials, please respond in their Comments. Do NOT let the innuendo slide. If a woman has the nerve to post about how much she loves the new trend but is afraid to wear the boots - encourage her (not: U LUK FKING HOT in BOOTS!!! - Be A Gentleman!). If she posts pics on her blog - give her a compliment. The most important thing: give them props for wearing gorgeous boots. For every comment you make, there's hundreds reading it.

The thigh boots trend won't last - trends never do. Next year we may be back to clunky-heeled boring inanity and we'll have to wait another decade before wild boots are 'hot' again. Let's be the Boot Ambassadors! The women who are just beginning to love boots may be the boot designers ten years from now!